The cabinet today unanimously approved the nationalization of the Tel Aviv light railway project, and will finance its construction out of the national budget. The nationalization of the project comes after the Ministry of Finance cancelled Metro Transport Solutions' (MTS) franchise for the project several months ago, after it failed to secure financing.
The Metropolitan Mass Transit System Co. will carry out the project. The 22-kilometer (11 kilometers of of which will be underground) Red Line will link Petah Tikva, Bnei Brak, Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and Bat Yam. The line will have 31 stations. NIS 1.4 billion worth of work to prepare the route is due to end in 2011. The overall project will cost NIS 11 billion and will be operating by 2017.
The cabinet also decided to establish a steering committee, chaired by Transport Road Safety Ministry director general Yaakov Ganot, to oversee the project (including adherence to timetables and budgets), monitor implementation of today's decision, resolve disputes that may arise in its implementation, approve work plans, and facilitate the line's construction.
MTS is a consortium comprising Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL), Egged Israel Transport Cooperative Society Ltd., Siemens AG (NYSE: SI; XETRA: SIE), China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), and Sociedade de Construcoes Soares da Costa SA of Portugal.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 12, 2010
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